Model Years

2020 GMC Terrain Recalls and Problems

NHTSA lists 2 safety recalls and 196 owner complaints for the 2020 GMC Terrain.

2Safety recalls
196Owner complaints
7Complaints citing a crash
2Complaints citing a fire

Opens NHTSA's lookup in a new tab; your VIN goes to NHTSA, not to us. The VIN is on the driver's side dashboard, the door jamb and your registration. Safety recall repairs are free at GMC dealers.

Data: NHTSA recall and complaint filesUpdated Sep 28, 2026

Recalled components: child seats and powertrain. Most-described problem: brake failure or a soft or hard pedal (32 complaints, 16%). Most-reported area: brakes (71 complaints, 36%).

2 safety recalls for the 2020 GMC Terrain

Newest first. Summaries are NHTSA's own wording. Open a recall for the fix and the full notice.

Child seats

May 11, 2023

vehicle latch anchor

  • Fails federal standard 225 (child seat anchorages)
  • NHTSA 23V-339
  • 668,187 vehicles

The four rear-seat lower child seat LATCH anchorage bars may have excessive powder coating, which could prevent a child seat from being installed with the anchorage bars. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 225, "Child Restraint Anchorage Systems."

Risk: The inability to install a child seat with the LATCH anchorage bars could result in an unsecured child seat, increasing the risk of injury in a crash.

The fix and full notice

Fix: Owners are advised to install child seats using the vehicle's rear seat belts until the remedy is complete. Dealers will inspect the latch anchorage bars, and remove and replace the finish, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed June 2, 2023. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020 or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is N232403240.

General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2020-2023 Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain vehicles.

NHTSA listing: TERRAIN. GMC campaign N232403240.

Powertrain

Oct 29, 2020

automatic transmission

The start/stop accumulator endcap may have missing bolts.

Risk: Missing bolts on the start-stop accumulator endcap could result in a transmission oil leak and may progress to a loss of propulsion, increasing the risk of a crash. A transmission fluid leak in the presence of an ignition source may increase the risk of fire.

The fix and full notice

Fix: GM will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the start-stop transmission accumulator and replace it if any bolts are missing, free of charge. The recall began December 15, 2020. Owners may contact GMC customer service at 1-888-988-7267, Buick Customer service at 1-866-608-8080, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020 or Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006. GM's number for this recall is N202313440.

General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2018-2019 Chevrolet Cruze and Buick LaCrosse, 2018-2020 Chevrolet Equinox, Chevrolet Traverse and GMC Terrain, 2018 Chevrolet Malibu, 2019-2020 Buick Encore, Buick Enclave, Cadillac XT4, Chevrolet Blazer and GMC Acadia, and 2020 Cadillac XT6 vehicles.

NHTSA listing: TERRAIN. GMC campaign N202313440.

Questions about any of these recalls: call NHTSA's Vehicle Safety Hotline at 888-327-4236 (TTY 888-275-9171) or check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

What owners report

Owners have filed 196 complaints with NHTSA about the 2020 Terrain. Below, they are sorted by the problems owners describe and by the areas NHTSA files them under. NHTSA does not verify complaints.

Problems owners describe

Counted from the complaint text: a complaint counts once for each problem it describes (how we match them). Some complaints describe none of these.

Areas named in complaints

A complaint can name more than one area, so shares add up to more than 100%.

GMC Terrain recalls and complaints by model year

The highlighted bars are the 2020 model year. Newer model years have had less time on the road, so their counts are lower. Counting complaints filed in each model year's first three years, the 2018 Terrain drew the most (65) and the 2020 drew 38.

Owner complaints

2020: 196 complaints

Show as a table
Owner complaints by model year, GMC Terrain
Model yearComplaints
2016152
2017133
2018220
2019185
2020196
202135
202288
202339
202449
202513
202633

Safety recalls

2020: 2 recalls

Show as a table
Safety recalls by model year, GMC Terrain
Model yearRecalls
20162
20171
20185
20193
20202
20212
20224
20232
20241
20250
20261

Crash test ratings

NHTSA's 5-Star Safety Ratings for each version it tested. Rollover risk is NHTSA's estimate of the chance of rolling over in a single-vehicle crash.

Tested versionOverallFrontalSideRollover
GMC Terrain SUV AWD
Rollover risk 16.4%
GMC Terrain SUV FWD
Rollover risk 18.5%

Questions

What are the most common 2020 Terrain problems?

In the 196 owner complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2020 GMC Terrain, the problems described most are brake failure or a soft or hard pedal (32), the check engine light coming on (28), and loss of power or limp mode (23). NHTSA does not verify complaints, and one complaint can describe several problems.

Is the 2020 GMC Terrain safe?

In NHTSA crash tests every tested version of the 2020 GMC Terrain earns 5 stars overall. The table above lists each tested version.

How do I check if my Terrain has an open recall?

Enter the 17-character VIN from your dashboard, door jamb or registration at nhtsa.gov/recalls. The lookup lists unrepaired recalls for that exact vehicle. Safety recall repairs are free at GMC dealers.

Sources and method

  • NHTSA recalls file (NHTSA datasets), dated Sep 29, 2026; every campaign checked against NHTSA's recalls API.
  • NHTSA owner complaints file, dated Sep 28, 2026. Counted by complaint number, so a complaint naming three components counts once in the total.
  • NHTSA 5-Star Safety Ratings (NCAP).
  • NHTSA model names covered: TERRAIN.

Complaint counts are unverified owner reports. They rise with sales volume and time on the road, so compare model years with care. How we build these pages. Spotted an error? Tell us.